Attached
by Wakkowarnerlover
Summary: Perry is visited by Agent, a platypus from the future, who apparently needs his help in defeating a robot that Doofenshmirtz created. Otherwise, in the future, the robot will murder someone Perry is very close to.
1. Chapter 1

"All right. Let's see… your mission…" Monogram was looking over his papers.

Perry sat in front of the big television screen, chewing on his teddy bear's ear.

"Dr. Doofenshmirtz has been-" Monogram looked up. "Oh no. Not the bear again. Agent P, we talked about this last week. Why can't you leave the bear at home?"

Perry shrugged. He didn't know why he liked to take Snugglebear everywhere. It just made him feel happy for some reason. Yesterday Phineas had made some modifications to Snugglebear while Perry was asleep. Perry wasn't sure what they were, though, because he had grabbed the bear from Phineas before Phineas had a chance to explain each new feature.

"Agent P, you're too old to get attached to a ratty toy. Put the bear down."

"Says the man who has a Ducky Momo toy in his bedroom." Perry mumbled.

"Don't make me come down there, Agent P. Put the bear on the desk."

Perry continued to chew the bear's ear. The ear must have been close to a button that Phineas added in, because a piece of candy fell out of the bear's mouth.

"CANDY DISPENSER ACTIVATED." Said Snugglebear. "ENJOY YOUR TREAT. YUM. YUM."

Monogram sighed and walked off of the screen. He entered Perry's lair a few moments later.

Perry was still chewing on Snugglebear's ear. Candy kept coming out.

"YUM. YUM. YUM. YUM. YUM. YUM." Said Snugglebear.

"Cheese and crackers, Agent P! It looks like you had a piñata in here!" Monogram picked Perry up and set him down on the ground. "Give me the bear."

Perry growled at him.

Monogram snapped his fingers. "Enough with the attitude. Give me the bear. I'll get it to your host family. Keep it in your home from now on."

Perry backed up.

"Agent P, that's an order."

Perry slowly handed Monogram the bear.

"Thank you." Monogram said. He took the bear by the right paw and was squirted in the face with water.

"WATER SPRAY ACTIVATED." Said Snugglebear. "ENJOY BEING WET. HA. HA."

"I like that bear." Perry said.

Monogram placed the bear on Perry's desk. Perry picked it up and held it against his cheek.

"Agent P, put it back."

Perry started to whimper.

"Carl, he's not following my orders."

"Well, you did try to take his teddy bear." Carl responded from the screen.

"He can't take a teddy bear on a mission! How ridiculous would that look? And he doesn't just LIKE it, he's OBSESSED with the thing."

"YUM. YUM. YUM. YUM." Said Snugglebear.

"Agent P, enough."

Perry stopped chewing on the ear.

"Come straight back when you're done with your mission." Monogram said, taking the teddy bear away. "I have a friend I want you to meet. He's an animal psychologist."

Perry was starting to think about attacking Monogram for Snugglebear.

"Go on." Monogram said, scattering his thoughts. Perry sighed and left.

* * *

"And now, Perry the platypus, I will rid myself of you!" Doofenshmirtz said.

Perry was thinking about tennis balls. He hadn't chewed on one in a while (He found it undignified) but he remembered how much he used to love doing so. Maybe he could try chewing one again. Would the taste and texture still appeal to him?

"…The Whateveryouwantinator!" Doofenshmirtz said, pointing at a large machine. "All I do is tell it what I want, and the inator will create it! Like this." He went up to his inator. "A giant, metal, platypus-eating monster, created for the sole purpose of destroying Perry the platypus."

Perry chewed on the bars of his cage.

"Don't bother, unless you can chew through metal." Doofenshmirtz told him.

Perry continued to chew.

The inator began to glow. A huge robot burst out of it, and the inator shattered. It roared powerfully.

The hair on Perry's neck stood up. He backed up as far as he could.

The robot monster was huge, about three Doofenshmirtzes tall, and it was bright red. It didn't appear to have any eyes, but it definitely had teeth. It had two mouths, and three large purple tongues poked out of each one.

"Uh… I was kind of hoping it would be prettier." Doofenshmirtz said. "Oh, great. Now the inator's broken."

The monster roared again, and the building shook.

"I'm calling you Inatorkiller." Doofenshmirtz said. "Now, get Perry the platypus!"

Inatorkiller turned and crashed through the wall of Evil Incorporated. He jumped down to the streets of Danville and ran away.

"Well." Doofenshmirtz said. "That was a total waste of money."

Perry shuddered. Inatorkiller had really freaked him out.

"Curse you, Inatorkiller the monster!" Doofenshmirtz yelled.

Perry knocked on one of the bars.

"Oh. The cage. Sorry, I forgot." Doofenshmirtz opened the cage and let Perry out. "Tomorrow, I'll have a better evil scheme for you to foil. Maybe something monkey-related, I dunno."

* * *

Perry entered his lair and grabbed Snugglebear back from Monogram. Monogram was standing next to a short man with glasses.

"He's obsessed with the teddy bear." Monogram explained. "He chews on it and cuddles it all day. He refused to part with it this morning."

"I have seen this before." The short man said. "Many animals grow attached to their toys."

"He's not a toy." Perry growled. "He's my friend." He chewed on Snugglebear's foot. Water sprayed Monogram.

"HA. HA." Said Snugglebear.

"But WHY?" Monogram said, wiping his face off. "And why this particular bear? I gave him plenty of toys when he was younger, and he never touched any of them."

"Hard to say." The short man said. "Some animals grow attached because they think of the toy as their baby."

"He has plenty of real offspring, so that's most likely not it." Monogram said. "Which reminds me. I need to call the vet and see about getting him fixed. We would have done it earlier, but a lot of things came up… anyway, besides the baby thing, why?"

"Some animals are lonely and think of them as friends." The small man bent down next to Perry. "May I see the bear?"

Perry hissed at him.  
The short man gently touched the bear's foot. Perry growled and snapped at his finger.

The man drew back. "You know what it might be?"

"What?" Monogram asked.

"This bear has the same wooly texture of a platypus. Was this animal separated from its mother too early?"

"Well… he was a day old when I found him."

"That could be it. He never had a mother to nurture him, and he has projected that onto this bear."

"So he thinks the bear is his mother?"

"WHAT? No way!" Perry turned away from them.

"No. The bear simply provides the same amount of comfort to him that a mother would. That's why he doesn't want to be separated from it. He'll grow out of it in time. Or project the feelings onto another object."

"He shouldn't have to 'grow out of it'. He's a highly trained animal agent."

"You can train an animal to do almost anything, but it's difficult to train them out of an instinct." The short man said.

"What does any of this have to do with instinct?"

Perry grabbed Snugglebear in his mouth and shook it.

"Hunting, perhaps." The short man said.

"How do we fix this?" Monogram asked. "He can't walk around with a teddy bear everywhere."

"Maybe he just needs to spend more time with humans. Take him out to dinner or something." The short man said.

Perry was pretty sure it wasn't his mother's fault that he was so attached to Snugglebear. Sometimes he missed his mother, but not often. And he visited her sometimes, and sat through her stories about magical eggs and daytime. But the bear was not his mother, or his baby. It was just a chew toy that calmed him down sometimes. Was it such a crime to want to take a fuzzy, cuddly bear everywhere?

"All right, Perry, let's have some lunch." Monogram said. "CARL! We're going out for lunch!"

"Uh… no offense, sir, but I don't know if I feel the same way about you."

"As FRIENDS, Carl!"

"I MEANT as friends. What did you think I meant?"

Monogram sighed. "Just get down here. We're taking Agent P for some lunch."

Perry looked pitifully at Monogram.

"Leave the bear here." Monogram said.

Perry frowned, but he put Snugglebear on the chair.

"Oh, gross!" Carl said as he came into the lair. "Agent P, there's a moldy square on your desk."

Perry looked over at his desk. On top was a little plastic baggie, containing a very green sandwich.

"Steve the sandwich is back." Perry muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

"He's so creative, Carl." Monogram said. "Look at him coloring with the crayons."

Perry wasn't listening to the conversation. He was too busy drawing a picture of a giant teddy bear stepping on Monogram.

Carl made a face as Perry began to scribble all over the drawing with red crayon.

"He's pretty good, isn't he?" Monogram asked.

Perry realized he could make red dots if he slammed the crayon straight down on the paper. STAB. STAB. STAB.

Carl looked even more disturbed. "Do you think he's angry?"

"No, he's perfectly content."

An elderly couple came in and sat across from their table. Their waiter came at the same time.

"Here's your order." The waiter said. He passed out the meals.

Perry looked at his plate. Monogram had ordered him a shrimp salad.

The shrimp in the salad were a lot bigger than the kind Perry would have found in the wild. He started on the lettuce.

"This restaurant reminds me of the time I had surgery." The old man at the table across from them said loudly to his wife. "You see, I had to get brain surgery…"

Perry ate one of the shrimp. It still tasted good, even though it was the size of his palm.

"And the doctor brought me in, and he sawed my head open…"

Perry stopped chewing. He spit his shrimp into a napkin.

"And my brain was just out in the open there, all gray and mushy."

"You know, I had surgery once too." The wife said.

"BE QUIET!" Perry snapped. "I'M LOSING MY APPETITE!"

"Agent P, hush." Monogram said. "That was an awfully loud chatter you made there."

"I remember, on your toe." The old man said. "I was right directly there. I remember the doctor started to…"

The old man began to recite the procedure in great detail.

Perry threw a shrimp at him. It landed on the old man's head.

The man didn't notice, completely absorbed in his story.

Perry smiled and tossed another shrimp.

"You know, Carl, I think this is very good for Agent P." Monogram said. "He just needed to get out a bit."

"Uh, sir, Agent P is…"  
Perry aimed a fat shrimp to land on the very top of the shrimp pile that had formed on the old man's head.

"He's such a good agent." Monogram said. "So close to his host family, too. Did I tell you that he managed to drag the youngest child from the Flynn-Fletcher's all the way from Danville Forest to my house, all without disclosing his secret identity? The kid was completely unconscious and weighed much more than Agent P did…"

"Sir?"

"Quiet, Carl! It's a good story! It's a good thing he brought the kid to me, he might not have made it. He was very badly beaten…"

"Sir, Agent P's shrimp-"

Monogram looked over at Perry's plate. "Great googly moogly! Agent P, did you eat all of that shrimp already? I'm glad you liked it."

The old man had a shrimp hat now. Perry was very proud of himself. He ate the rest of his salad.

"So well-behaved." Monogram commented. "I can take him anywhere."

* * *

"This ISN'T FUNNY, Darren!" Perry shouted, banging on the locked bathroom door.

"Our agency is really weird." Darren the duck responded through the door. "Why did they put the lock on the OUTSIDE of the bathroom?"

"Unlock this door RIGHT NOW! Or I'll punch you so hard-"

"You can't punch me when you're in the bathroom."

"I HATE YOU."

"Gosh, that's a little harsh. I'm just messing with you, Perry." The knob turned a couple of times. "Um…"

"Do NOT tell me you broke the knob."

"Well, I didn't. But the lock isn't unlocking."

"Darren, I promise you, IF I ever get out of here, I will slug you so hard…"

"Hang on! I'm going to go get help." Darren said.

Perry waited.

A few minutes later, the bathroom door came open. An ancient platypus stood in the doorway, balancing on a cane.

"What kind of an idiot puts a lock on the other side of the door?" He croaked.

"Thanks for opening it. Did Darren send you?"

The platypus shook his head.

"Don't take this personally…" Perry said. "But… should you be walking around? I mean, how OLD are you?"

"Shut up."

"Sorry."

The platypus smirked. "Never mind. I walk around because I'd go crazy if I didn't. And as for my age, I'm twenty-five."

"That's impossible. You're eight years past the life expectancy of a platypus!"

"The only reason I've lived so long is because I refuse to die."

Perry raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I have no idea why I'm still around." The platypus said. "I'm not complaining, though. Anyway, I can't talk long. I don't wanna mess anything up." The platypus began to advance slowly away from the door. Darren collided with him.

"Watch it." The platypus snapped. "I'm not a bowling pin."

"Sorry." Darren said. He slipped around the platypus and ran to Perry.

"No respect for the old dude." The platypus muttered. He continued on his way.

"Sorry, Per." Darren said. "It was just a joke."

"I wasn't laughing."

"I promise I will never lock you in the weird O.W.C.A bathroom ever again." Darren said.

Perry punched him.

"OW!"

"I made you a promise too, remember? I promised you I'd slug you if I ever got out of the bathroom."

"We're IN the bathroom!" Darren said, rubbing his arm.

"All right. I'll punch you when we get out."

"No!" Darren ran out of the door, colliding again with the old platypus, who had been standing near the doorway, watching. They fell to the ground.

"Quit running into me." The platypus said. "I'm certain it's jolly fun, but it's also REALLY. ANNOYING."

"Why are you here, anyway?" Darren demanded. "I'm pretty sure you don't work here. The O.W.C.A doesn't have any Jurassic agents."

"I've worked here in the past." The platypus said.

"So you were Dan the dinosaur's colleague?" Perry said, joining in.

The platypus rolled his eyes. "Quit with the old jokes. You're gonna end up like this one day, you know."

"The world's first walking fossil?"

"Yeah. Anyways, back before the world was invented, when I was younger, you know, I worked full-time at the O.W.C.A. Nowadays…" He sighed. "I'm too old to do much of anything. Luckily for me, so is my nemesis. Beating him isn't so hard."

"What's your name?" Perry asked.

"I go by a lot of names, actually." The platypus said. "Just call me Agent."

"Unique." Perry said.

"Why are you here?" Darren asked.

"There's a monster on the loose somewhere." Agent had a coughing fit. Perry and Darren had to wait a while before he continued. "Have you seen one recently?"

"What did it look like?" Perry asked.

Agent wobbled. "Can't remember. And, to be honest, I don't want to remember. I've blocked it from my mind…"

"Doofenshmirtz created a monster yesterday." Perry said. "Named Inatorkiller. Large, red, two mouths-"

"Don't remind me of what he looks like!" Agent snapped, launching himself into another hacking fest.

"Sorry, sorry." Perry took a step back.

Agent finally stopped coughing. "I'm suppressing a memory the best I can. I don't want it to come back. I've seen something horrible, and I don't want to remember anything other than the fact that it happened."

"So… you're looking for Inatorkiller." Perry said. "But he was just created yesterday, how could you..."

"It's hiding out somewhere." Agent croaked. "Waiting to pounce."

"Inatorkiller's only after me." Perry said. "You don't have anything to worry about."

Agent laughed, but the laugh turned into another series of coughs.

"It really is after me!" Perry insisted. "Inatorkiller's sole purpose is to destroy me."

Agent pointed at Perry with a shaking hand.

"If you… see Inatorkiller anywhere… he has to be destroyed. Let me know where he is. I will give him what he deserves."

"I haven't seen him anywhere." Perry said.

"Fine. I'll go look for the idiot." Agent left the room. "Tell me if ya see him."

"Sure." Perry said.

After Agent left, Darren motioned Perry closer.

"That guy creeped me out." He whispered.

"You think he might be evil?" Perry asked.

"He seemed to know too much. He didn't even ask you who Doofenshmirtz was."  
"Anyone who hunts down Inatorkiller is a friend of mine."

"What if he's not hunting him down to destroy him? What if he's trying to get Inatorkiller to kill you?"

"You're so paranoid. We go to the movies and you're certain that the popcorn is poisoned. We meet a random old guy and you think he's out to kill me."  
"There are no twenty-five year old agents in the O.W.C.A." Darren said. "They're either dead or retired."

"Maybe he's the first to not retire."

"Then how come we've never SEEN him before?"

"Um… different division? Maybe he's from California or something."

"Perry. This guy is bad news." Darren said. "I got a really bad feeling when I first saw him."

"That would be PAIN, Darren. You did crash into him."

Darren sighed. "Just be more CAREFUL, okay?"

"Says the guy who runs around slamming chairs on people's heads."

* * *

Darren followed Agent down the streets of Danville.

It wasn't hard to keep up. Agent was REALLY slow.

Agent entered Danville Park. Darren crept silently behind him.

"I know you're there." Agent said, startling Darren. Agent slowly turned around to face him.

"I wasn't following you." Darren said quickly.

Agent rolled his eyes. "You've been behind me since I left the agency. I seriously doubt you just felt a huge need to go to Danville Park."

"I have every right to suspect you." Darren clenched his fists. "You just showed up out of nowhere."

Agent stared at him. His arm trembled slightly. "Suspect me for what?"

"If you're a rogue agent, admit it." Darren said. "We'll just figure it out anyway."

"You dare call me a rogue?" Agent whacked Darren over the head with his cane. "You saucy penguin!"

"Ow! I'm a duck!"

"Yeah, penguin, duck, whatever. Listen, if I was a rogue, I wouldn't be one of those vicious little brainless buttheads who destroys anyone who gets in their path. I'm here because I'm searching for Inatorkiller. If he stays roaming Danville, we all pay the price."

Darren rubbed his head. "Who ARE you? How come I've never seen you?"

Agent snorted. He was in hysterics in a matter of seconds.

"What?" Darren demanded.

"You know absolutely nothing." Agent said, trying to balance himself on his cane. "You're completely in the dark."

"So you ARE planning something." Darren said.

"I am planning SOMETHING, but it has no evil intent. That I can promise you. I fi- I fi… Ah, forget it. My stupid memory hates me at the moment. Quit stalking me and go be useful at the agency." Agent tottered away.

Darren stood and watched until Agent was out of sight.

He was now more suspicious than ever.


	3. Chapter 3

Perry dropped Snugglebear in Phineas's lap.

"Ew, gross!" Phineas said. "He's all slimy!"

"Play with me." Perry begged. "I'm bored."

"Not now." Phineas said. He handed Snugglebear back to Perry.

"You don't want to play with me. You hate me. I'll have to go live in an animal orphanage where they only feed me bananas and chocolate syrup, and every night you'll cry out, 'Oh! If only I hadn't been so mean to Perry! If only… only… only…'" Perry pawed at Phineas's sneaker. "Did you like the echoey part?"

"Perry, I have to finish this." Phineas was scribbling on a piece of paper.

"Sure. That is WAY more important than making your platypus happy."

"Find someone else to play with you and make you happy."  
"But…"

"Play with Ferb."

Perry tied Phineas's shoelaces together and went to go find Ferb.

He padded into the kitchen and jumped into Ferb's lap. Ferb was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a sandwich.

"Phineas loves a piece of paper more than me." Perry said.

"Aw." Ferb said.

"Wanna play?"

Ferb nodded. Perry dropped Snugglebear into his hand.

"Ew." Ferb said. He tossed Snugglebear across the room, and Perry ran after him. He grabbed the bear in his mouth and brought it back to Ferb to throw again.

Phineas entered the kitchen and sat down next to Ferb. Ferb smiled at Phineas.

"Paper-lover." Perry accused.

"Huh?" Phineas asked.

Ferb snickered, but he didn't explain.

Perry dunked Snugglebear in his water dish to clean him off. "You guys gonna build anything today?"

"We thought we'd build a giant swingset." Phineas said.

"How would you get on it?"

"Oh." Phineas frowned. "Guess we forgot to think about that part."

"It'll still be fun to build." Ferb said.

Phineas smiled. "Yes, yes it will. Let's build it anyway. It'll be bigger than that huge ice cave down near Danville Ravine!"

"Ice cave?" Perry asked. "In the summer?"

"Yeah, we have no idea why it's there." Phineas said.

Perry checked his phone. "There was something on the O.W.C.A site that said rogues were setting up strange hideouts in random places. How long has that ice cave been there?"

"Um… a couple of days." Phineas said.

"Maybe I'd better go check it out." Perry said.

"We'd love to join you, but we have a swingset to build." Phineas said.

* * *

Perry was stupid not to bring a jacket.

He made his way, shivering, through the ice cave. Probably only the arctic animals hid out here. At least that meant he wouldn't run into Dennis.

He was hoping to find more information about the rogues rather than confront rogues anyway. He couldn't fight when his blood was about to freeze solidly in his veins.

Perry stepped on a piece of ice. It cracked into fluid under his foot.

"If that's one of you crazies, stay away from me!" Someone called. "I have claws, and I'm not afraid to use 'em!"

Perry froze.

"…But if you're NOT one of those rogues, help an old guy out. I can't really move."

Perry followed the sound of the voice. "Are you stuck somewhere?"

"Thank the universe, it's me. Usually I can ignore my arthritis when it gets bad, but in this dry-ice temperature, it's not going easy on me."

Perry peeked around an ice rock. Agent was lying behind it.

"What happened? Trip over your cane?"

"You gonna help me, smartmouth, or are you just going to stand there making snappyremarks?"

Perry held out his hand. Agent put his hand into his. Agent's hand was so cold and bony that Perry nearly pulled his hand away.

"Can't hoist myself up." Agent said. "Sorry, but you're gonna have to do the grunt work."

Perry tugged. He was able to get Agent to his feet.

"Can you walk?" Perry asked.

"Of course I can. I just can't at the moment." Agent wheezed.

"Um… yeah. So… what do I do?"

"Cane." Agent tried to catch his breath.

Perry reached down and picked up Agent's cane, slipping it under the old platypus's free hand.

He let go of Agent's other hand. Agent started to fall. Perry quickly caught him again.

"Stupid joints." Agent grumbled. "I used to be able to hold myself up."

"I wish you still could."

Agent glared at him. "Just because I'm old, that doesn't mean I'm moldy. I'm not a sandwich, you know. Keep your mouth shut and keep holding me up."

Perry started helping Agent over to the cave entrance. "So, you felt a desperate need to make a snowman and came in here, even though you knew your joints would freeze up."

"An ice cave in the middle of Danville Ravine." Agent hacked. "I remember… it was important, somehow. It meant something."

"It means there are probably rogues in the area."

Agent didn't answer. He kept looking forward. Perry noticed how sad he looked.

"It's all right." Perry said. "You'll feel better once we get back outside."

Agent bowed his head. "I… can't feel better… not unless I fix everything."

"Not everything can be fixed." Perry said.

Agent nodded. "But some things must be fixed. That's why I'm here. I have to destroy him…"

"Inatorkiller?"

Agent jerked as if he were about to collapse again. "Animals will guard humans with their lives."

"I'm one of those animals." Perry said.

"I know you are." Agent said. "As long as your humans are okay, you are happy. Remind them of that as much as you can."

"Why would they need to know?"

"Sometimes they forget." Agent said softly. "And sometimes you are reminded of how unforgiving this world is. And then you have to fix everything."

"What is it you need to fix?" Perry asked. "Maybe I can help."

Maybe if he helped, the crazy old platypus would finally leave him alone.

"You can help. Destroy Inatorkiller." Agent fixed him with a cold stare. "Are you up to that?"

"Just so long as he doesn't destroy me first."

"That's the least of our worries." Agent said.

"Wow. No, don't worry, that didn't offend me one bit." Perry grumbled.

He and Agent were soon outside. Agent started to cough.

"Can you make it from here?" Perry asked. "I'm going back in."

"Don't." Agent said.

"Huh?"

"Don't go back in. Go home to your owners."

"I have to investigate." Perry said.

"I have all the time in the world. And it still isn't enough." Agent said. He wobbled toward Danville Ravine.

"Uh… don't fall in the ravine." Perry said.

"I may be old, but I'm not an idiot." Agent responded. He changed his direction. "Go home. Your owners miss you. I know my owner misses me, and he's not even gonna know I've been gone when I get back home."

"I guess some of what you just said makes sense." Perry turned toward the cave, and then stopped. "You really think my owners are lonely right now? I mean, they're brothers. They have each other."

Agent's eyes started to water. For a second Perry thought Agent was about to sneeze.

"I expect they do miss you." He finally said, his voice shaking. "But you're right. When you are gone, they have each other."

"Did I upset you?"

"Just find that cursed monster and get rid of him." Agent said. "I never want to lay my eyes on that thing again in the future."

* * *

"Look, here's his plan." Darren said. "He's going to have you find Inatorkiller so Inatorkiller can attack you!"

"Darren, stop being so weird." Perry said. He poured himself a cup of coffee.

"You're calling ME weird? That psycho old platypus makes no sense! Why would he just appear out of nowhere and come to us jabbering about some monster that was only created a few days before his arrival?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking that perhaps he's just delusional from old age, and once I destroy Inatorkiller, he'll calm down and leave me alone."

Darren sighed. "I don't know, Perry. I really don't know about this guy. I think you should call the police on him. Or tell Monogram."

"Oh, sure. Because telling Monogram stuff ALWAYS helps."

"Look what I found in his wallet." Darren said, spreading out a bunch of tiny papers.

"Monogram's? Ooh, is there a picture of him when he was a teenager? I wanna see!"

"No, Agent's!"

"You stole an old guy's wallet?!"

"Ignore that and just look."

Perry glanced at each paper. There was a newspaper clipping about some guy who invented a portable growing computer, many photographs of random people, and a paper that was taped many times and stapled closed.

"We should open it." Darren said. "Whatever's on that paper, it looks like Agent didn't want anyone to see it."

"Isn't that like opening a lady's purse or something?"

"Pinky's nemesis is a lady, and he opens her purse all the time. We're doing it for the good of the agency." Darren grabbed the paper from Perry and carefully began to open it.

"Darren, taking Agent's wallet is bad enough." Perry tried to grab the paper back.

Darren unfolded the paper and scanned it.

"Well, what is it?" Perry asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Is it a plan to destroy the world? A coupon for Mr. Slushie Burger? A drawing of Ducky Momo?"

"I don't really understand it." Darren handed the paper to Perry. "Is it written in code?"

Perry took the paper and read.

_I don't want to remember this, but I know I need to. I am writing it down so I do not forget. I was heading home from the emporium down near the house when I heard a noise behind me. I turned and saw… the thing I had only seen last in my younger years. I have no idea how old I was when I first saw that thing. My memory hates me. I tried ignoring it, but it kept following me and trying to kill me and stuff. It smashed a few buildings during its rampage, and I think some people might have died… which I feel bad about. I kept trying to escape from it, throwing things at it to keep it at bay- bike tires, trash can lids, antique Carlos the caring clown toys… but nothing would stop it. Finally I was cornered in an alley. I remember I had at least three ways I could escape, and I was about to use one of them… they came running from across the street, they saw me… I crouched down as he approached. I hissed to try and make him go away, and he wouldn't. He stood in front of me, his tall body blocking every possible weak point I had, and he stood straight and tall and faced it… and their eyes met… and… it pains me most to write these words… it won. I remember red, terrible red, and how he made no sound as he was killed… once the deed was done, it stormed away again to hide… and I looked down at him, and he was ruined, gone, completely gone, but his face was still frozen in that same determined expression… and my other one, who had seen it all, stood nearby, his eyes wide, and he began to cry… I too, am crying, as I write this. I don't want to remember. I don't ever want to read this. I will close it so that I can never open it, but I will keep it with me at all times… all I want… is to change things…_

Perry frowned. "Wow. That was really sad. I didn't understand all of it either, but… wow."

Darren rubbed his eyes. "I kind of feel bad now. Maybe this guy's not crazy. Maybe he's just witnessed a murder. At least, that's what it sounds like."

"I think you're half-right, Darren. But this guy IS crazy. I mean, antique Carlos toys? I know it FEELS like he's been here for way too long, but Carlos is pretty new!"


	4. Chapter 4

"So." Pinky said, following Perry to the exit of the O.W.C.A. "How was your day today?"

Perry sighed and shifted the weight of the boxes he was holding. "So far? Not so awesome. I guess it could get better later on."

"Aw. I'm sorry to hear that."

"You're sorry to hear that this day could get better later on? What kind of a nut are you?"

"Uh…"

Perry shoved against the door, propping it open with his knee as he tried to advance forward. Carrie the cat exited through the open door.

"Oh, sure. I'm the one with all the boxes, and I hold the door for YOU! RUDE CAT!"

"Perry!" Pinky took a couple of boxes. "Calm down!"

"Sorry." Perry mumbled. "I'm just in a really rotten mood today."

Pinky helped him set the boxes down at the front of the O.W.C.A.

"You heading home after this?" Pinky asked.

"Probably." Perry said, wiping his hands off on his belly. "If I don't have anything else Monogram needs me to do around here."

Devon the dog came outside. "Guess what? I got a new gadget!" He held up a tiny green electronic device.

"Can it shoot water balloons?" Perry asked.

Devon shook his head.

"Not interested."

"Don't mind him." Pinky told Devon. "He's in one of his moods."

"It's super cool. All you have to do is enter the DNA of someone, like hair or spit, on this little tab here, and it identifies stuff about them. Here, I'll try it on you." Devon yanked a pinch of hair from Perry's arm.

"Ow!" Perry jerked back. "Watch it."  
Devon placed the fur inside the gadget. "Man, you have awesome fur. It's so fluffy and shiny. I'd kill for fur like that."

"Just so long as you don't kill ME for it." Perry growled, rubbing his arm.

"MAMMAL: PLATYPUS." The machine said. "SEMI-AQUATIC, YOUNG ADULT MALE, TEAL FUR, BROWN EYES."

"Isn't that awesome?" Devon said.

"I knew all that stuff already." Perry said. "Doesn't that gizmo know anything else?"

Devon pressed a few buttons.

"HAD COFFEE AND MMM-BRAND CEREAL AT 9:15 AM THIS MORNING." The device said.

"Okay, now that's just creepy." Perry said.

"Do me!" Pinky removed Perry's hair clump from the tab on the device and drooled in its place.

"MAMMAL: DOG. TERRESTRIAL, ADULT MALE, TAN FUR, BLUE EYES."

"That is so cool." Pinky said.

"If you gave that to my owners, they'd be entertained for hours." Perry said.

He heard a soft clunking noise behind him.

"Oh, Agent." Perry turned around. "Glad I caught you. Darren… uh… found your wallet." Perry pulled the wallet out of his fur pocket and handed to him.

"Saucy penguin probably stole it." Agent muttered. He opened up his wallet and looked through it. "Everything seems to still be here. But most of the stuff in my wallet resided in my short-term memory, so I just gotta assume everything IS still here."

"There was a stapled paper in there." Perry said quietly. "I'm sorry, but we read it."

He wasn't sure why, but he felt like Agent needed to know. He liked and trusted this old creature for some reason.

Agent didn't respond. He seemed to be far away. He was staring intently at the O.W.C.A's front doors.

"But don't worry. It made no sense to us." Perry said.

Agent turned his head to focus on Perry again. His expression was thoughtful.

"Come." He finally said. He headed off in a seemingly random direction.

* * *

Perry was confused when Agent led him into the Flynn-Fletcher house. He was even more confused when Agent made his way upstairs into Phineas and Ferb's room.

"Can we talk here, or…" Agent seemed hesitant to continue the question.

"It's fine. If anyone comes in here, it'll probably just be Phineas and Ferb. They know I'm an agent." He lowered his voice. "If you tell Monogram…"

"I'm not a babbler." Agent said. He sat down on Ferb's bed and looked around. "I'm feeling such a wave of nostalgia right now."

"Your owners are older now?" Perry picked up Snugglebear and started to chew on him.

"YUM. YUM. YUM." Said Snugglebear, spitting out candy.

Agent nodded. "Thirty." He motioned for Perry to sit down on the floor. "I haven't been completely honest with you, because I wasn't sure how you were gonna react. Also, I didn't want to mess anything up."

"Honest with me about what?"

Agent reached into his fur pocket and pulled out an old photograph. He handed it to Perry.

Perry stared at it for a moment. It was a picture of Phineas and Ferb at the age of six, sitting in a baby pool. Ferb was placing an inflatable dinosaur on Phineas's head. "Who gave you this?"

"No one. I've kept it for years."

Perry shook his head. "This is… I took this picture when I was learning to use a camera. You… you've been stealing photos from me? That's what you're saying?"

"Check." Agent said.

Perry reached into his fur pocket and pulled out the same photograph. It was less faded.

"I don't understand." Perry said.

"Perry." Agent stared at him. "I'm not from this time period. Does that clear something up? Or is time travel 'impossible'?"

"No, I believe in time travel. Living with Phineas and Ferb, you know. But… if you're from the future… why did you come back here? And who are you?"

"I came back here to stop something from happening in the future." Agent said. "As for who I am… figure it out."

Perry thought hard.

Agent watched him. Then he said, "That's my bed."

He pointed shakily at the pet bed that sat near Phineas's bed.

Perry looked from the bed back to Agent.

"You're… but…"

Agent nodded. "That's right, Perry. I'm you."

* * *

Perry tried to calm himself down. He had never suspected that this half-dead skeleton of a platypus was his future self.

"So… you came back here… in a time machine."

Agent nodded.

"Why? Why this time? Does Inatorkiller do something that's bad for the future? Did he try to kill you or something?"

Agent sighed. "Inatorkiller was created recently, according to the year we're currently in. That's why I came back here. I figured that it would be easier to find him if he'd been created only a few days before. Yes, he has tried to kill me. But he couldn't get to me."

"What did he do?" Perry asked.

Agent looked grave. Perry frowned.

"What? Nothing… too bad, right?"

Agent looked down at the floor. "Inatorkiller found me the day I left to come here. I could have gotten away… without protection. …Our owners. They saw me. Ferb tried to protect me. I tried to make him go away. He wouldn't." Agent shuddered slightly.

"So…" Perry swallowed. "Inatorkiller… he ki… ki…"

"Ferb." Agent said quietly. "And I knew it shouldn't have happened. He was only thirty. Phineas carried him out of the alley, crying… I followed… and as I followed I thought… if Ferb hadn't tried to defend me, he wouldn't have been… and then I realized… Inatorkiller… if he had been destroyed long ago… I broke away, found the time machine in the museum, and came here. I'm too old… I have no agility anymore. But you… you are young. You can fight."

Perry tried to keep his tears at bay. Ferb… even though it was so far off…

Agent started coughing. When he finally stopped, he said, "We have to track him down. If Inatorkiller is gone, Ferb will live. I'll go back home… and he'll be there. Alive… in one piece…"

Perry nodded slowly. "You'd think a giant monster would be easy to find around here."

Agent kind of smiled. "Yeah. Anyway, I just wanted you to know the truth." He stood up with great effort and balanced himself on his cane. "And don't worry. We WILL fix this."

Perry didn't answer.

"Hey, Perry." Phineas said, coming into the room.

With surprising speed, Agent threw himself on the ground.

"It's okay." Perry said. "It's just Phineas."

Agent heaved himself back up, looking nervous.

"Who's that?" Phineas asked.

"That's me in the future." Perry said.

"I'm FROM the future." Agent corrected. "I'm not IN the future right now."

"That's so cool!" Phineas said. "You're so old!"

Agent rolled his eyes. "I'll be heading out now, if you don't mind."

"That's fine." Perry said.

Agent crawled through the open window and was gone. Perry turned to Phineas. "What did you and Ferb do today?"

"I have no idea what Ferb did today. I couldn't see him. We were invisible." Phineas said.

* * *

"What's your most embarrassing moment?" Ferb asked Phineas.

Perry, Phineas and Ferb were all lying on the rug, looking at the dark ceiling of their bedroom. Phineas had said he couldn't sleep. Perry was finding it hard to stay awake.

"Hm. Maybe that time I told that guy he smelled like a gorilla." Phineas said.

Ferb snickered. "Oh yeah."

"What about you?" Phineas asked.

"The time I parachuted down into the middle of Danville Capitol wearing only my underwear." Ferb said.

"I don't remember that." Phineas said.

"You weren't there." Ferb said. "That was the day you had the flu. And you weren't watching TV, so you didn't get to see it on the news."

"You were on the NEWS?" Perry exclaimed.

"What about you, Perry?" Phineas asked.

"Gosh, where would I start?"

Phineas laughed. "Then tell us about your favorite embarrassing moment."

"Favorite? What the heck? That's like saying 'Tell us about your favorite vaccine'. Or 'Tell us about your favorite injuries'. 'Tell us about your favorite stomachache.'"

"That doesn't even make any sense."

"Exactly my point!" Perry said. "Fine. On my fifth birthday, it was raining, and I slipped on a chair and crashed into the screen in my lair. Not only did it hurt, but Monogram and Carl saw the whole thing and started laughing at me."

"Aww." Phineas said. "That's sad."

Ferb patted Perry on the head.

"Oh, guess what, Ferb?" Phineas said. "Perry's older self was here today."

"Cool." Ferb said. "Why?"

"He's looking for Inatorkiller." Perry said softly. "A giant red monster robot that does horrible things in the future."

"Red? Large? Two mouths?" Ferb asked.

"Yeah."

"We saw him near Danville Chasm." Phineas said. "He was ripping up trees."

"You saw him?" Perry sat up.

"Kind of hard to miss." Ferb said.

Perry stood. "I have to go." He ran for the open window.

"Where?"

"I have to destroy him. Or… something really bad will happen." Perry started to climb out the window.

"Don't go!" Phineas begged. "You could get hurt!"

"Stay here." Perry ordered.

He jumped to the tree outside of the window and slid down.


	5. Chapter 5

Perry found Inatorkiller right near Danville Chasm, ripping up trees, just as Phineas had said. He crept quietly up behind the giant robot.

Inatorkiller whirled around.

"Wow." Perry said. "Hawk-like senses. Eaasyyy…" He started backing away slowly.

Inatorkiller appeared to lose interest in him and ripped the tree he was holding in half.

Perry continued to back away. Maybe it would be better to think out some kind of strategy rather than charge this guy. Perry didn't seem to concern Inatorkiller at the moment, but he had a feeling Inatorkiller wouldn't become any friendlier to him after an attempt at an attack.

And it wouldn't do anyone any good if Perry died. Then again, if Ferb had no one to defend in the future…

Perry shook his head. He loved Ferb more than anything, but he didn't really want to commit suicide if there was another option. Besides, the tragedy was very far off.

"Um… combust, please?" Perry asked Inatorkiller.

"Rargh." Inatorkiller said, turning his back on Perry.

Perry tried his best to swallow his fear. The monster really freaked him out. There had to be a self-destruct button on him somewhere...

"Perry!"

Perry turned toward the sound of Phineas's voice. "Phineas… go home."

"We won't." Phineas said.

"Boys. You've been beaten senseless every time you follow me. Last time you were kidnapped. Won't you ever learn?"

"No." Ferb said with a straight face.

"You're gonna get hurt." Phineas said. "Don't fight that huge thing."

"Phineas, I have to." Perry said. "You don't understand."

"Come back home." Phineas said. He looked on the verge of tears.

"Phineas." Perry said.

"Please." Phineas begged.

"Come back." Ferb said.

Perry watched both of them. Then he smiled.

Phineas bent down and held out his hand.

Perry ran to him.

And was instantly pulled back by a giant metal hand.

* * *

"RAAAGGGHHHHHHH!" Inatorkiller bellowed. He swung Perry up to his face, which was much more unpleasant up close than it had been far away.

"Dude." Perry said. "Took ya long enough to get your fight on."

Inatorkiller smiled with one of his huge mouths.

"Perry!" Phineas screamed. "LET HIM GO, YOU BIG… Um… got any insult ideas, Ferb?"

"All I can think of right now is carrot." Ferb said. "Carrot, carrot, carrot. He is a big evil carrot."

"This is no time to joke around!" Phineas snapped.

"Boys? Quit fighting and run for help." Perry tossed Phineas his fedora. "Give that to Monogram. He'll know what to do."

"But-" Phineas said.

"Just tell him you- WOAH!" Perry ducked as Inatorkiller tried to punch him across the face with his free hand. "-found it on the street, and found the return address in the brim and came to return it. Don't just stand there, RUN!"

"I don't want to leave you!" Phineas called up.

"I have a better chance of living to twenty-five if you go!" Perry said.

"Where will we find Monogram?"

"Use the address in the brim of my hat, smartypants!" Perry shouted. "Hurry up!"

Inatorkiller stuffed Perry in one of his mouths.

* * *

"NO!" Phineas shouted. He ran toward the monster and slammed into its leg. "SPIT HIM OUT! SPIT HIM OUT RIGHT NOW!"

The hideous monster roared through his extra mouth.

Phineas dodged the monster's leg as the huge monster gave a kick. "Ferb, see if you can climb up!"

"Er… do monsters like ketchup?" Ferb asked.

"I don't know! Why are you asking me that?" Phineas slid out of the way the monster's leg returned.

Ferb didn't answer. He clutched onto the monster's leg and began to climb.

"Perry!" Phineas shouted. "Perry, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"He hasn't swallowed yet." Ferb said. "That's good, isn't it?"

Phineas wasn't sure. He hoped Perry would still be in one piece when Ferb got there. But what would Ferb even do when he got there…

The monster started to walk. Phineas got out of the way, and Ferb held on tightly. The monster began to rampage around the trees.

"Go find Mono-whatever." Ferb said. "That's probably our best chance, I guess."

"Will you be okay?" Phineas asked.

Ferb blinked.

"Yeah, yeah you will." Phineas smiled at his brother and ran from Danville Chasm.

* * *

It was a constant fight to try and avoid Inatorkiller's razor-sharp teeth when his huge rubber tongues kept pushing Perry toward them. It was almost like swimming, but with the whole ocean against you. An ocean made of oil. Perry didn't understand why a robot needed saliva.

Perry tried to figure out where the front of Inatorkiller's mouth was. It was impossible to see in the darkness, and the constant crashing of Inatorkiller's teeth and roar were deafening.

If only Perry could find a relatively safe place in Inatorkiller's mouth to rest until help came. He was getting pretty tired, and he already felt searing pains in his back and arms from close calls with the monster's teeth.

Inatorkiller's tongues wrapped around his body again, squeezing against his lungs. Perry bit one of them, and it jerked back. He pulled himself out and swam toward what he hoped was an exit.

He was blown backwards by liquid, and he heard only underwater noise as Inatorkiller's oil saliva submerged him. Perry yanked himself to the surface, gasping for air.

He hoped Phineas was a fast runner.

* * *

The monster refused to open its mouth.

Ferb kept tugging on its mouth, but the monster only growled at him.

* * *

Agent crawled through the trees, his hand tightly gripping the small plastic bag he was carrying. His last resort with Inatorkiller.

He didn't want to have to use it.

"All things have a purpose." He whispered to himself. "Maybe this is its purpose. Maybe this was always its purpose."

He pushed aside a tree branch. There was the horrible monster, storming around with one open mouth, something clinging to the side of its face.

Agent felt horrible memories flood back to him. He shut his eyes. No. He didn't want to remember. He wouldn't remember. He would shut the memory away, lock it up.

But he wouldn't lock away his hatred for Inatorkiller.

* * *

Perry reached into his oily fur pocket and felt his hand close around Snugglebear.

"Snugs." He whispered, holding the soggy bear close.

"HEATING FEATURE ACTIVATED." Snugglebear said, adjusting its temperature. "ENJOY YOUR FAVORITE TEMPERATURE OF HEAT. AH. AH."

"Don't bother." Perry wished he could see his bear in the dark. "I don't think it's going to work out for me this time."

There was no sound from the bear in response.

"Phineas… Ferb…" Perry whispered. "Forgive me."  
He felt his consciousness leaving him. He wrapped his arms around Snugglebear.

"WATER SPRAY ACTIVATED." Snugglebear sprayed a random section of Inatorkiller's mouth. "ENJOY BEING WET. HA. HA."

"Forgive me." Perry closed his eyes.

* * *

Agent stepped out of the bushes, feeling considerably weaker than he had before. He looked up at Inatorkiller.

The monster was storming aimlessly around, roaring. A child was trying to open its closed mouth.

Agent squinted.

_Ferb_.

"Get down from there!" Agent shouted.

Ferb looked at him curiously, and Agent felt his heart sink. He missed Ferb so badly. Amazing kid…

"Get DOWN!"

Ferb shook his head.

"Kid, HUGE MONSTER. SHARP TEETH." Agent shook his cane at Ferb. "It won't end well!"

"My pet's in there!" Ferb shouted back down.

Agent sucked in his breath.

This was NOT good.

* * *

When Phineas returned to Danville Chasm, the red monster was still storming around, happily smashing trees.

"FERB!" Phineas yelled. "I COULDN'T FIND MONOGRAM!"

Ferb pointed at the monster's mouth and shook his head.

"HE WON'T OPEN?"

Ferb slid down from the monster and ran toward Phineas. The monster chased after him, the ground shaking.

"I couldn't hear you." Ferb panted.

"Perry… is he okay?" Phineas held Perry's fedora to his chest.

"He's still in there." Ferb said. "At least he hasn't been swallowed."

"Ferb!" Phineas pointed at his brother.

Ferb looked down at his hands, which had turned dark red. "Oh, don't worry. That's not mine."

Phineas felt a lump form in his throat.

Ferb's eyes started to water. "Ketchup." He choked. "I kept telling myself that it was ketchup."

Phineas bit his lip.

The robot was thundering closer. Phineas and Ferb grabbed each other.

"Phineas!"

Phineas turned.

Perry's future self was standing nearby, looking older than ever. He held up a plastic baggie.

He pitifully tossed it to Phineas, who had to lean forward to catch it.

At first glance, Phineas couldn't even tell what was in the bag. It was like some kind of fuzzy rock-hard liquidy substance that was a mixed color of grey, green, black and brown.

Steve.

"It's that stupid sandwich Perry keeps." Phineas said. "And it's like twenty times older!"

The monster stood in front of them and gave a triumphant roar.

"Why'd he give us this thing?" Phineas growled.

Ferb grabbed Steve from Phineas's hand and threw it. It landed in the monster's second mouth.

The robot closed his mouth.

"RAAAGGGHH!" He suddenly bellowed. Steam was blowing from the mouth Steve had entered.

"That was Steve's purpose." Agent whispered. "I know that now."

The robot collapsed on the ground and broke into many pieces.

Ferb yanked the monster's mouth open. "Get him out!"

Phineas reached inside and gently picked Perry up. He was unconscious, and completely black with oil.

Phineas sat Perry on his lap and started to cry.

"Is he…" Agent asked. "Am I…"

"No." Phineas sobbed. "No, he's breathing. But he's hurt."  
Ferb pulled a tiny soaked black bear from the monster's mouth and placed it on Phineas's lap, next to Perry.


	6. Chapter 6

"How are you feeling?" Agent asked.

"Um… dizzy." Perry replied, squinting at the form in front of him. "Did… did I pass out or something?"

"You just woke up."

"From what?"

"We did it." Agent said, soaking a washcloth with warm water. He smiled at Perry. "Ferb will live."

"Are you sure?"

"Inatorkiller isn't coming back. Steve was his end." Agent stroked the washcloth over Perry's back. "Just make sure at age twenty-five, December fourteen, you travel back in time to assist with his defeat again."

Perry cringed.

"Hold still." Agent scolded. "I don't want these wounds to scar. I have enough scars as is."

"Will I be okay?"

"Yeah, you're fine. Nothing's broken. You're just scratched up. Some of those cuts will take a few weeks to heal, but it's all worth it."

Perry nodded. "Yeah. Hey, did you guys rescue Snugglebear?"

Agent snorted. "Yes."

"I guess I grew out of him." Perry said, noting Agent's amused expression.

"You never grow out of that bear, believe me. I still sleep with it every night." Agent said. "But you do realize why you're very attached to it. And then you no longer need it every second of the day."

"Why?" Perry asked.

"Snugglebear is the only thing that was ever really ours." Agent explained. "I didn't own anything the agency gave me, because I knew they could take it at any moment. And that caused a huge problem for me, because I loved my family. Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Linda, Lawrence… they ARE ours, Perry. But the agency could take them away, and I think I projected that onto Snugglebear. Snugglebear was mine, and the agency couldn't take it away. Even though Monogram DID try to take it, if my memory likes me at the moment."

He bandaged up Perry's wounds and took a step back. "You're good. Come on." He picked up his cane and started walking towards the bathroom door to leave.

"When did I get so good with medicine?"

"You didn't. I just figure if you clean it out and wrap it up, it'll eventually heal. Come on."

* * *

Agent helped Perry out of the time machine.

Perry looked around in awe. Danville looked completely different. It was much bigger and more technology-based.

"No police cars." Agent said. "That's a good sign. Come on."

Perry followed Agent to the Flynn-Fletcher's antique shop. It looked pretty much the same as it had back in the past.

"Make yourself hidden." Agent advised.

He got down on all fours and entered through the automatic door. Perry hesitated, and then followed.

He hid behind the first thing he saw: A pot decorated with galloping reindeers.

It was kind of ugly.

Agent slowly made his way over to a pillow that sat on the floor next to the counter. Snugglebear and a few other toys were placed around the pillow.

Agent lay down on the pillow and closed his eyes.

"Don't just leave me in the future while you take a nap!" Perry hissed.

Agent ignored him.

Seconds later, the antique shop's door rose again.

"Mom? You in here?" Called a tall man with fiery red hair. "We're back!"

A very old Linda Flynn came out from the back of the shop. "Phineas! Ferb! What a wonderful surprise!"

Ferb entered the shop after Phineas. He looked so much older.

Perry glanced at Agent. Agent was standing on all fours.

"He's alive." Agent whispered. His eyes sparkled.

"Where's Perry?" Phineas asked.

"Right there on the pillow." Linda said. "He's been waiting for you."

"Come here, boy!" Phineas knelt down next to Agent and gently stroked him. Agent took two steps forward so he could lick Phineas's hand. "I missed you too! How've you been, Perry?"

"He's been doing a lot better than when you left." Linda said cheerfully. "I bought him one of those heating pads that adjust to whatever temperature his body needs, and it's really been helping to keep his arthritis at bay."

"Seems like just yesterday we were picking him out at the animal shelter." Phineas said, scratching Agent on the head.

Agent purred.

"Don't hog him." Ferb accused. He scooped Agent up and gave him a hug. "Hey, Per-per!"

"Careful." Phineas said.

"What is he, a vase?"

"He's twenty-five, Ferb. That's REALLY old for a platypus. Be gentle."

"I'm not going to toss him around like a crazy person." Ferb patted Agent fondly.

"Let me pet him. I haven't seen him in two months!"

"I haven't seen him in four." Ferb retorted.

Phineas laughed. "Okay, you win."

"How long until you have to go?" Linda asked.

"A couple of weeks." Phineas said. "I wish I could take Perry with me. I miss him so much. But the travel would be too hard on him."

Perry snorted from behind the ugly vase. Sure.

"Where are you going this time?" Linda asked.

"Just down to the edge of Danville. The scientists and I are trying to see if we can make virtual time travel, so people can 'go on vacations' without messing up time."

"I'm sure Perry would be able to withstand an hour's drive." Linda said.

"Really?" Phineas said. "I could take him?"

"You never needed my consent!" Linda laughed. "I've been watching him for you two, remember?"

"Wanna go down to the edge with me?" Phineas asked Agent. "When I'm at work, my kids can watch you. You love my kids, don't you?"

Agent purred again.

"I'll come over there and keep an eye on him, too." Ferb said.

"I'm sure Candace will want to see you two, now that you're in town." Linda said.

"Oh, yeah!" Phineas said. "Can we go see her?"

"Follow me!" Linda said.

Ferb placed Agent back on his pillow and the three of them left the shop. Perry crawled out from behind the vase.

"You must miss them when they're gone." Perry said.

"All the time." Agent nodded. "But at least I always know where they are. Let's get you back home to your owners."

* * *

"Everything's good?"

"Everything's perfect. Thank you for helping me destroy that beast." Agent said.

"I didn't do much to help." Perry grumbled.

"Nonsense. If you hadn't been so brave, who knows what I would be like right now." Agent smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks, Perry."

"You're welcome." Perry turned to his house. Phineas and Ferb were waiting on the doorstep. They looked very happy to see him.

"And Perry?"

Perry looked at Agent. "Yeah?"

"Don't waste time. You're not always gonna be young." Agent ended his sentence with a cough.

"Yeah. I kind of have living proof of that right in front of me."

Agent grinned. "Watch your mouth."

The time machine vanished.

Perry took one last look at the empty street, and ran into the arms of his owners.


End file.
